The Trials of Babysitting
by KittySkywalker
Summary: Rido gets quite a handful when he agrees to babysit little Kaname and Yuki one afternoon. Fluff! please r and r!


It was a warm quiet summer evening in the country. The noises that were heard were the sounds of nature and not of the town a few miles away. Rido Kuran walked up the stairs to the large wooden door of his sibling's home. He rang the door bell and waited patiently. He was here to baby sit little Kaname and Yuki. Juri felt that the two young ones were still too vulnerable to be left alone, so she and Haruka had asked if Rido would do them a huge favor and come over for awhile.

Of course he would. He smiled to himself; to think that all the evil things people had expected him to do none of them have come to pass. He was happy for Haruka and Juri and loved them both as much as he ever had. He was startled from his reflections when the door swung wide open and the home inside showed itself to the outside world. Juri beamed when she saw her oldest brother.

"Rido you're here! Thank goodness!" she enveloped him in a tight hug and sighed "You have no idea how much this means to me", she whispered in his ear. He chuckled at once. "Oh you didn't bring Sam this evening." Juri pondered.

Rido couldn't help the light that sparkled in his mismatched eyes as he said, "Well the baby was putting up quite a fight so she decided to stay home and rest and be with Senri." His heart began to swell just thinking about her. Samantha Shiki, one of the brightest lights of his life. That woman was his reason for not succumbing to the beast of himself everyone thought he would. Sam, his dear Sammy, his _wife_, and soon to be the _mother_ of his second child. He loved her so very much. Sam was his queen as he was the leader of the vampires along with his brother.

The Council of Elders had been mortified that someone other than the oldest Kuran heir was to be taking half the throne. But he didn't care because when he and Haruka worked together on something it always ended with the best results for everybody. That was what Rido loved about his brother- he could bring about his kind side. His pacifist side. Yes it was true that they and the Hunter society were working together to ensure both species had a future together. Kaien Cross and Toga Yagari were really something. A soft hand brought him back to the present.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said a little embarrassed.

Juri smiled warmly at him, "It's alright I know just what Sam is going through." She grabbed his hand and led him into the warm and comforting house. Much to his surprise the two cute children he was supposed to be looking after were nowhere to be found. _'Well I suppose it is a bit early for them yet' _As if reading his mind Juri commented that the children were still asleep and would probably be up in a few hours.

Suddenly Juri planted on her stern and motherly glare. Rido was a bit worried. Had he done something wrong? He thought last time he came over alone he did a pretty good job of taking care of the kids. And when their auntie Sam came with him -which was of course all the time now- he thought that he did an even better job for them. Rido didn't say anything though. After all, his sister was a mother of two already and she would probably have some valuable upcoming parenting advice. "Now Rido before Haruka and I get going I need to tell you something. Yuki was a bad girl yesterday so I don't want you to spoil her rotten like you usually do," he could see her smile coming forth now, " and also I told Kaname last week it was alright of he had a friend come over today so he should be here by eleven this evening."

Oh… well that changed things a bit. It wasn't just his niece and nephew he had to look over but a stranger's child as well? Juri must have sensed his worry because she kissed his cheek reassuringly and said, "Don't worry its little Takuma- you know he's never been troublesome."

"I see," Rido said. Juri was right of course Takuma was a very well behaved young boy. Both Juri and Rido heard the steps coming down from the stairs at the same time. Rido gazed fondly at the sight of Haruka still fiddling with his neck tie. He was thousands of years old and he still couldn't get it right. Rido gave an endearing chuckle which startled Haruka.

"Rido! You made it!" he exclaimed. Haruka was always happy to see his older brother. He walked over to Rido and pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you for coming at such a short notice." Rido said nothing a little embarrassed, but pulled Haruka closer and fixed his neck tie for him without being asked. "Oh thanks", Haruka replied.

Rido gave him a pat on the head like he did when they were boys and asked, "So what came up on you two so suddenly?"

"Well," Juri said walking out of the room, "I'll let Haruka explain that one. Darling…?"

Haruka looked up at his brother sheepishly, "Ah well, the ah… the Senate decided to have a meeting and they requested that Juri and I come to it…" Haruka stopped when he saw Rido squint his eyes. On the inside he was fuming. How dare the Senate call on them like this! How _dare_ they when they knew he was the king and not Haruka! Even though they shared power equally both Haruka and he knew that he held the title of King to appease the masses. If he didn't let them call him king they would be at a complete loss now wouldn't they? If the Senate had a problem they should be talking to _him_ not bothering Haruka.

Haruka bit his lip watching his brothers emotions pass through his eyes. He wound his arms around Rido's neck and put his forehead on his. "_I_ know your King," Haruka said, "Even when we were little I knew you were King. But you're not upset about that are you?" As Rido wound his arms around his little brothers waist he smiled.

"You know me to well. You know I'll never mind sharing my power with you, but I _worry_ about you both."

Haruka's eyes began to water, "The fact that you do is all that matters." When they both turned around Juri was leaning in the door way watching.

"You two would make a cute couple." she grinned coyly. Both men's eyebrows went up before the both started stuttering at the same time. Juri giggled before walking up to Rido and pulling a small slip of paper from outside her purse. Rido looked at her inquiringly. "It's the phone numbers you can reach us at if you need anything, and the address of where we'll be. And once again thank you so much. Come on Haruka we don't want to be late." Haruka and Juri rushed to the front door before heading down the steps to their waiting car. They both waved goodbye to him as he stood on the front porch.

"Be careful!" he shouted to them waving back. He still smiled as the car went out of eye sight. He walked back in the house closing the door behind him. Once inside he paced to the living room and sat down. But it was silent apart from the noises he unintentionally made, and he didn't like it. It made him feel a bit lonely. In his own home there were the members of his family making noise giving the house a lived in feeling. He sighed- this was pointless he should be enjoying the quiet while it was here since doubtless when the kids got up there would be a racket all day. He put the slip of paper in his coat pocket, and stood up.

He wanted to give Sammy a call and let her know what was going on. After being satisfied that she and Senri were all right and that the servants were taking good care of them he told her to have a good rest. "Thank you darling. We miss you, don't we Senri?" she asked. Rido could here his son answer eagerly.

"When is papa coming home, mama?" he questioned.

"Rido?" she asked.

"Well I'm not really sure actually. Juri and Haruka didn't say but I'll be back as soon as I can." he answered. He heard Senri sigh a little, and his smile became even bigger if that was at all possible. "Well I should let you both go… after all I _was_ shoved out the door this morning…" he teased.

"Ah and with good reason to…" Sam chuckled.

"I love you both," Rido said softly. And he did- more than anything. His own wife and child and his extended family meant the world to him.

"I love you too," his wife said and he heard Senri's disapproval of the mush happening in front of him. Rido laughed before he said goodbye and hung up the phone. He kept chuckling to himself as he walked towards the kitchen. If only Senri knew what happened to make his new brother or sister come around… then he frowned. No he didn't want Senri to even _begin_ to think of those things yet. He didn't care that vampires mature faster his little boy was, well a little boy. He was the same age as Yuki a wonderful five years old while Kaname was seven now. Whenever Senri came to visit his cousins they got along perfectly. Well, except for the occasional squabble.

Once in the kitchen he sighed still not knowing what to really do with himself now that the children were still asleep and his own son wasn't there. Then he thought- even though Juri didn't want him to spoil them- well, making them breakfast wasn't too bad now was it? He walked over to the fridge and cupboards and got all his ingredients before lighting the stove.

Little Kaname woke up to a very good smell. He could swear he smelt pancakes with… blueberries? That could mean only one thing: Uncle Rido was here! Kaname jumped out of bed and ran to Yuki's room across the hall. When he got there he saw that she was already trying to put on her tiny robe. She smiled when she saw him and he helped her get her robe on. Then he picked her up and carried her down the stairs as fast as he could. Once he was at the bottom he put Yuki down and held her hand leading her to the entrance of the kitchen.

They both peeked round the corner and saw their Uncle flipping pancakes in a skillet, and putting things on the table. The smell of the food hit their noses and had their little tummies grumbling. Rido smiled as he turned around licking some syrup off his finger.  
"Good morning sleepy heads," he called out. Kaname and Yuki rushed round the corner and ran to their Uncle. He bent down to scoop both of them up hugging them. Both children kissed their Uncle's cheeks and he asked, "So who's hungry?"

"Me!" the children cried together. Rido put his newly made pancakes on the table and the children sat down. They all dug into their food and the little ones did fairly well. However poor little Yuki was struggling with her knife and fork. They were far too big for her tiny hands. Rido reached over and pulled her plate towards himself and began to cut her food for her. Yuki had other plans. She got down from her place at the table and went over to Rido proceeding to sit on his right leg. She looked up at him questioningly to see if she could eat breakfast in his lap or not. He smiled and kissed her hair. She beamed up at him and said, "Thank you Uncle!" She then began eating her cut up pancakes.

Not wanting Kaname to feel left out Rido patted his other leg for his nephew to come and join them. Kaname went round the table bringing his plate and sat on Rido's left leg. Rido could sense in their auras that both children were incredibly happy and that made him happy in turn.

Now with their extreme early morning hunger beginning to recede, both Yuki and Kaname thought that instead of Uncle Rido feeding himself it would be more fun if they could feed him. Yuki put a decent sized chunk of pancake on her fork and held it up to her Uncle's mouth. He was a bit confused but ate what was on her utensil and smiled his appreciation. Then Kaname offered his fork as well. Rido ate what was on Kaname's fork with a feeling akin to dread. Before he knew it both children were relentlessly feeding him what was left of their food, and he could feel a bad case of indigestion coming on. He stilled both their hands, and tried to get through the huge amount of pancake still stuffed in his cheeks. Yuki looked up at him and seeing her Uncle chewing constantly with round puffed out cheeks and started to giggle. Actually she found it amusing to no end. Kaname looked up and started to laugh as well. Rido rolled his different colored eyes and kept on diligently chewing. This made the children in his lap laugh even more. However Rido got back at them by feeding them the rest of their breakfasts- one child per each of his hands.

After all the plates were licked clean Rido sent them off to go get their clothes and get ready for the day. As Kaname carried Yuki up the stairs Rido put on a pot of coffee for himself. He set about cleaning the kitchen while sipping his black coffee and he noticed that the children were watching him from around the corner yet again. It couldn't help but catch Rido's interest. They had never acted this way around him. He was tempted to say they were afraid of him so he took extra care to be at his calmest and his happiest to put them at ease. But no… that wasn't it. He could hear them giggling. What was so funny? He took a quick look down at himself. In their feeding frenzy he hadn't dropped any food on himself. He laughed to himself then- children had wonderful minds but sometimes complicated ones. Sometimes you really couldn't tell what they were thinking. He guessed this was one of those times. When his work was finished, he took a moment to just lean on the counter and drink his coffee.

This seemed to be when Yuki snatched her chance. She ran up to her Uncle and hugged his leg before she said, "Guess what Uncle?" Kaname blushed slightly as he ran into the kitchen as well.

"Wait! Yuki don't!" he called out. Rido looked down at his niece, and then picked her up.

"What?" Rido asked back.

"Kaname is afraid to ask for help with this math home work isn't that silly Uncle Rido? Hey Uncle Rido would _you_ help him?" she asked her face lighting up.

"Yuki…" Kaname moaned-he was extremely embarrassed. Why did Yuki have to go and tell Uncle Rido _that_? Rido looked at Kaname and patted his head reassuringly.

"Go get your school things and I'll help you," he said. Kaname's blush darkened before he nodded and left the room. Rido with Yuki still in his arms walked out to the sitting room where Kaname was pulling out a math textbook, a folder and a pencil from his school bag. He took a seat on the couch with Yuki next to him while Kaname sat on his other side with his homework in his lap. Naturally Rido felt for the boy… as a pureblood the last thing you ever wanted to do was to admit your faults to someone else no matter how old you were. But Kaname was still a little boy so he couldn't expect himself to understand everything right off the bat. Kaname showed Rido the page of math problems which consisted of two step multiplication problems.

'_Wow_', Rido thought '_we didn't do this when I was seven. Kaname has a tutor who really knows how to crack the whip.'_

There really wasn't much that Kaname had trouble with- he just lost a few digits here or there. It wasn't something that a second pair of eyes couldn't fix. And as the worksheet was nearing completion after only half an hour Rido didn't stop the pride for his nephew that was swelling in his chest. Of course, when Rido was proud of his son it seemed to swallow him whole. Finally Kaname put everything away with a look of triumph on his young face.

"Thank you Uncle," he said.

"Not a problem," Rido responded fondly. But the inevitably bored five year old little girl at his side let out a resigned little sigh. Rido felt guilty because she had been a very good girl and had not interrupted once while Rido was helping Kaname with his studies. Even though Juri had been adamant that Rido not spoil her he had a sinking feeling that at some point that night he would give in to his urges.

He plopped Yuki in his lap and said, "Come here Kaname- let's do some extra practice." Kaname walked over to the couch where Yuki was giggling. Rido took off her socks and asked Kaname a series of simple math questions in which he could answer by counting his little sister's fingers and toes. Yuki enjoyed herself thoroughly and Rido no longer had his slight guilty conscience. They finally stopped when the heard the door bell give a cheerful ring.

Rido leaned back in his chair on the front porch. It was a nice night out and the children had wanted to play outside. Rido didn't deny them that simple pleasure. Takuma and Kaname wanted to play hide and seek along with a game of tag. They let Yuki play with them as long as she wanted to and made simple accommodations so she would win half the time. Watching the children play it made Rido slightly nostalgic; he thought back to the years before Juri was born and he and Haruka would play outside. Haruka had a love of playing in piles of the autumn leaves and Rido used to run from tree to tree of the old Kuran estate which was now in his name.

Sammy had liked the house so instead of buying a new home they moved into his childhood one. It had been hard at first. There were many reminders of his late parents but with the laughter of his son filling the lonely rooms he found it easier every day.

A particularly loud laugh snapped him from his revere; Takuma's hair was full of bright green leaves from the tree the children were currently resting under and Yuki was delighted to pick the leaves out. Rido could appreciate the cuteness of three children of succeeding ages being so fascinated by simple leaves. Although to them it was more than that. Rido could see Takuma's cheeks redden from the constant attention Yuki gave him and Kaname sat by laughing.

But they soon went their separate ways. Kaname and Takuma played with little toy soldiers Kaname kept in a box outside. The boys were on the far right corner of the front yard, while Yuki moved to the left side of the yard that was closer to the porch. Rido made sure to keep one mismatched eye on all the small children in the garden. The boys were completely absorbed with their game engrossed with adding all the sound effects they could. However poor little Yuki seemed almost listless as she made one of her plastic horses prance in the grass.

Rido felt a pang in his heart. He really wished that Senri was there with him. He had always proven to be the ideal playmate for Yuki. Not to mention that Rido had never really seen his little niece look so… sad. He put his hands in his pockets and he felt what he had brought along with him. In each pocket his long fingers curled around the tiny presents he had for his niece and nephew. He felt bad once again however because he didn't have anything to give Takuma. But perhaps he could make it up to him another way. Besides Rido didn't want Kaname and Yuki to receive their gifts right in front of their friend for that would be mean. In the back of his mind he knew that this was the moment he would begin to spoil Yuki.

He stood up and went over to where Yuki was playing in the grass. He took a seat next to her and she instantly crawled into his lap before continuing to play. He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. She seemed to brighten up a bit but she didn't say anything to him.

"Your mother told me you did something bad yesterday?" he questioned softly, "What happened?" Rido guessed too late that he shouldn't have asked that, but he had and the little girl in his lap was starting to cry. He wrapped his arms around her and she buried her little face in his shirt. Rido only soothed her and didn't ask her anything else but she still answered him anyway.

"Uncle Rido, mommy told me not to go into daddy's study but I did anyway. I saw there was a bottle of something on the desk so I started playing with it… I accidently spilled it on some of daddy's papers. Kaname found me and told me it was ink and tried to help me clean it up. But then it got on daddy's desk. We left before daddy came back and we heard him get really angry. He didn't yell at us he was just really mad. Then mommy found out and she was upset with me." Yuki finished her story with a pout on her face.

Rido wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. He knew why it was such a problem; Haruka could never care less about what Yuki spilled ink on _on_ his desk but the desk itself had been their father's. Rido pulled his tiny present out of his coat pocket. He set it gently in his lap in front of his niece.

She looked up at him confused and said, "But Uncle Rido mommy said I wasn't allowed to have any gifts from you today."

"I know," he said, "but I won't tell her. It will just be between you and me. A tiny secret okay?"

Yuki looked puzzled for a moment. She felt as if she was disobeying her mother yet again, but Uncle Rido said it was okay and he had never been wrong. She hesitantly picked up her wrapped gift and looked up at him. When he smiled down at her she ripped the paper off quickly. Her whole face lit up when she saw what he had brought her. It was a small stuffed animal Siamese kitten. It had big blue eyes and a smile with a collar that had a heart tag on the front of it. The heart was big enough to be written on and it said "To my dear girl, love your Uncle Rido." Yuki's smile seemed to warm that chilly night and she stood up and hugged Rido around the neck with her tiny arms. He held her close and noticed she was shaking slightly.

"Yuki are you cold?" he asked.

"Um just a little," she said. Rido wrapped her in his coat and stood up keeping her close to his chest. He walked over to the other side of the garden where the boys were still playing though a considerable amount of soldiers were now lying flat on the ground. '_Tough battle_,' Rido thought to himself.

"Come on boys let's head inside for a bit and get warm." Kaname and Takuma leapt up and followed him. Kaname took his Uncle's free hand in his and Takuma held on to the edge of Rido's coat. Once inside it seemed like the children didn't want to go back outside. Rido was thankful because they wouldn't catch a cold indoors. He set Yuki down and let the kids run to the living room while he went to the kitchen. It was about time for lunch and he was starting to get hungry himself. He paced back to the sitting room and was surprised when Yuki wasn't there. He asked the boys and Kaname said she went to her room to put a stuffed cat away. '_Good girl_,' he thought.

"Okay," he said, "What do you two want for lunch?"

"Shio ramen," they answered in unison. Rido turned when he heard Yuki making her way carefully down the stairs.

"Me too!" she cried when she reached the bottom.

"Alright. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," he said. He began to walk towards the kitchen but he stopped.

Something was tingling in the blood bond he had with Samantha. Worry?…maybe. But he hadn't had a feeling like this in a long time. It wasn't dread though it felt like his blood was turning to ice and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. His instincts were screaming for him to walk outside. When he turned around the children were looking at him expectantly.

He forced a smile and said, "Don't worry I'll be right back." Then Rido walked out the door with the children quietly following him.

Perhaps Rido should have known all along it would happen. It only ever seemed when things were going well in his life that the Senate would rear its ugly head. He stood in the front garden looking at all the level Ds standing before him. They were probably going to say they belonged to a pureblood master but Rido knew better than that. They had the stench of old vampire blood clinging to them and it wasn't pure. They had probably been fed by different senate members. He could feel the presence of three children behind him but he would have to worry about that later. For right now he needed to focus on these fools.

"What are you doing here dogs of the Senate?" he growled.

One of them a younger former human spoke up. "Rido-sama we never expected you to be here. Our job would be easier of you would stand aside." Pompous brat; it was clear he knew nothing about the hierarchy yet. Rido barely ever used his voice to manipulate others but it seemed to be one of those times.

"Answer the question now," he demanded.

An older common vampire answered him this time. "Rido-sama," he said bowing to his superior, "the Senate told us to come here and bring the pureblood children to them. We expected them to be unattended."

Rido could tell the affect his newly enraged aura had on everyone presently around him. The Senate's servants shrank back and the children all whimpered. He wanted nothing more than to comfort them, but not at the risk of leaving them undefended. Rido brought his right thumb to his lips forming the blood whips that were his gift. His fangs had extended with rage and both eyes blazed crimson in the dreary night.

"You'll take these children when I've turned to dust," he retorted.

The filthy slaves of the wicked old men began to chuckle. "That can be arranged," they answered him unison. The lower vampires had their strength in numbers however Rido was a pureblood. He was ready to defend these children even if it did call for his life. With a blast of energy to powerful and speed too quick for the others to see Rido had opened the door to the house, pushed the children inside, and locked the door. If he could keep everyone out of the house then his niece, nephew, and their friend were safe.

Even with that relief there was still one thing eating a hole in his heart; what was happening to Sammy and Senri?

Samantha Shiki waddled as fast as she could to the front door with her young son in tow. She was stopped however by one of the household servants.

"My lady please you are in no state to be going out."

"But the people I care about are in trouble. I have to go," she protested.

"My lady you're eight months pregnant and your son is frightened."

Samantha paused for a moment, "You're right. Alright listen everyone," her caretakers gathered around her, "go to my husband. He's at Juri-sama and Haruka-sama's house. Something is happening so help him. And then go to the Senate and see if you can…" her orders were cut short when a searing pain shot through her lower abdomen. She had felt it before and knew exactly what it meant. "On second thought someone call the doctor."

Haruka fought past all the lower class vampires around him trying to prevent him from leaving. His wife was desperately trying to get the front doors of the Senate building. The scum there had actually created an elaborate plot to try to steal away their children for their blood.

And even though they were as worried as they possibly could be Juri and Haruka knew the Senate had made a fatal mistake. Their older brother the King of the Vampires, the Head of the Kuran Clan was watching their children. Even though they were fighting to get back to their children they knew…if anyone could protect the people they love it was Rido.

Rido stood in the dusty and now empty front yard of his sibling's home. There had been so many of them… He hadn't thought he could fend them all off yet he had. At the very least he was exhausted. He could only stand there trying to gain the strength to walk back to the house. He could still feel the children's frightened auras. Rido straightened himself back up- for almost being three thousand years old he had done pretty well tonight.

Even so there were many more things that worried him. Some of them were the shear numbers of the lower class vampires the Senate held along with the fact that they seemed almost immune to his pureblood power of control. They vampire society was changing dramatically but for now there were more important things to worry about.

He was just turning to walk into the house when a car pulled up. His fight or flight response kicked in and he bared his fangs and prepared a blood whip. However it was Juri running towards him and Haruka wearily following her.

Juri flung her arms around Rido and said, "Thank goodness you're alright! Where are the children?"

"They're inside," he said.

Juri rushed inside the house and did what only she could do-comfort her children as their mother and even Takuma. Haruka and Rido slumped down together on the front steps and just stayed there for awhile. But things got busy again once one of Rido's servants pulled up in another car and said that his wife needed him to come home immediately.

To the human ear the Kuran mansion was silent but to the pureblooded inhabitants the noise was intolerable. The midwife had come immediately to help bring the next Kuran prince or princess into the world. And everyone was waiting outside as Sammy was in delivery. All of the children were well behaved playing quietly at the end of corridor while Haruka kept an eye on them Juri watched her oldest brother pace back and forth restlessly.

No matter what he tried to do he couldn't keep still. Rido could hear his wife in pain and he could _feel_ it through their blood bond. Juri and Haruka would see him wince and pause in the middle of a step before carrying on. Haruka understood that vampires could feel their mate's sensations whether they been pain or pleasure. But the bond was not secluded to husbands and wives the bond parents carried with each of their children allowed the same feelings.

As such little Senri could sense his father's ire much better than he could his mother's pain. Senri trotted down the hallway to his father and wrapped his small arms around one leg. Rido looked down to see his son looking up at him and some of his tension eased. He picked up his son and held him so they were eye to eye and Senri began to play with his father's hair like he had done since he was a baby.

Rido smiled slightly and let his son do what he wished, but a particularly bad amount of pain flooded his body and he hugged his son to him burying his face in Senri's tummy. Senri squirmed in his grasp trying to let his father know he was holding him to tight.  
"Papa you're hurting me," he said breathlessly. Rido loosened his grip and kissed his son's cheek.

"I'm sorry Senri," he whispered. Little Senri saw tears in his father's eyes and wrapped his arms around Rido's neck.

"Don't cry Papa," he said.

Rido tried his best to ignore the burning in his throat and said, "Why don't you go play a little bit more Senri. Mommy should be able to see us soon." As of on cue Juri rose and said she would take the children downstairs to play. Rido watched his son and his friends leave and he resumed his pacing.

Haruka was worried why his brother was so agitated. "Rido what's wrong?"

"She's in more pain this time then she was having Senri," he said slowly. He couldn't take much more of this. He knew he was essentially the one who was causing his wife this pain and he couldn't stand by anymore and do nothing. He looked at Haruka hopefully and asked, "Will you help me with something?"

Sammy breathed as deeply as she could focusing on pushing just like the midwife had told her to do. Even in her discomfort she noticed that this birth was harder than Senri's had been. She squeezed a nurse's hand as another contraction gripped her abdomen. It would be any moment now before she could meet her second child and that excitement helped her deal with the pain.

Quite frankly she had the feeling that Rido was doing worse than she was. She could feel his anxiety and she hoped he wouldn't do anything foolish.

She winced as another stronger contraction came upon her and she heard the midwife say, "Alright here we go…ready Samantha-sama?" She nodded and pushed when she was told to.

After that first push the going wasn't so rough because…well Rido had decided to be stupid after all. However she was grateful and didn't say anything to him afterwards. Why bother when she was going to meet her next child?

Rido groaned deeply as Samantha's pain transferred over to his body centering in his stomach. It was another gift for purebloods to be able to take over a partner's pain and bear it themselves. However it always had the consequence of feeling intolerable agony. The doctor who was married to the midwife was in the room along with Haruka who was trying to support his brother.

If anyone had bothered to ask Haruka he would have said it was a very bad decision on Rido's part to do this. In Haruka's mind women were designed to deal with the ins and outs of childbirth while men had no clue which was why it was unnatural for Rido to do this. But when Rido had a plan he carried it through to the very end for better or worse.  
So for about an hour Rido was doubled over on the guest bed shoving his face in the pillow trying not to scream. The pain in his abdomen was unimaginable-almost as if all his organs were going to come out without warning. He made a silent promise to his wife that he would always use some form of birth control if this child was a daughter. Another agonized moan tore from his throat and the pain intensified if that was even possible so he knew they must be close.

He could feel Haruka's fingers running through his dark locks whispering words of encouragement to a brother he thought was a lovable fool. The doctor asked if he could give Rido any pain killers but Rido adamantly shook his head-if pain killers were to be given to anyone they would go to his wife.

More pain seared through his abdomen and he managed to get up onto all fours face still in the pillow. His hands clutched his shirt almost ripping the fabric while Haruka clutched onto him. Seeing as Rido wasn't going to let anyone help him Haruka dismissed the doctor and waited it out with his brother. The wait wasn't long however at that point because from the other room they heard a new voice utter high pitched cries for everyone in the house to hear.

Rido rushed out the room as fast as he could and went into the bedroom his wife was in. He froze in the doorway at the sight he saw; Sammy was leaning on the headboard with two pillows propped up behind her holding a little bundle she was cooing at. She looked tired but she smiled when she saw her husband standing watching her. She beckoned him over and he took a seat on the edge if the bed.

"Say hello to daddy," she said and handed over their new baby to him. He leaned his and kissed Sammy first then looked down to his new child. "We have a little girl," Sammy whispered. She found it sweet that Rido was so awed by his children. He smiled down at his little girl and she opened her eyes. She had a thin amount of red hair the same color has her mother's and her eyes were the famous Kuran wine color. Stroking his cheek Sammy said, "She has one of your eye colors." He smiled and his little girl uttered a baby's giggle.

"What do you want to name her?" he asked. He gently rocked his second baby in his arms getting used to the feeling of holding an infant again.

"I think we should name her Saki," she said.

"Saki," Rido repeated slowly, "blossom." He smiled and said, "It's a perfect name for her." he kissed Sammy once more and they both turned when they heard a little gasp.

Juri Had let Senri go see his parents and his little face sparkled when he realized he could finally meet his little baby brother or sister. He trotted over to his parents and Sammy picked him up holding him close.

He hugged his mother and asked, "Mama are you okay?"

"I'm fine sweetie," she said, "but it's time to meet your little sister." Senri smiled as his father scooted closer and helped him hold his little sister. One day she would become his wife and carry on the Kuran bloodline but for now all he saw was a little baby smiling up at him.

"She recognizes you," Rido said chuckling.

"What's her name?" Senri asked.

"We decided on Saki," his mother said stroking his hair.

"A blossom of nine orchids," Senri said thinking about the meaning of their names, "it's pretty. She's pretty too. Saki looks like you Mama." Sammy kissed her sons hair and held on to Rido's hand. He kissed her knuckles and smiled at his family.

His wife rested back on the pillows and sighed. Things would get a bit chaotic soon but for now she had the only people she needed in the entire world. Squeezing Rido's hand she asked, "So how was your day darling?" she winked at him and he rolled his eyes but laughed tiredly.

"It was…busy," he said as she giggled, "but I'm here now," he said looking from his wife to his children. "And I think it'll be a while before I decide to babysit again." He laughed when his son looked rather confused but he gathered his children up in his arms and let his wife snuggle next to him. The day almost ended terribly but it had been wonderful for so many reasons as well. "Happy birthday Saki," he whispered.

But his little girl was already peacefully asleep in her brother's arms and Samantha was asleep on his shoulder. Things had been busy for him but it had busier for his girls. Seeing his little boy look so content having a sister made Rido smile. He remembered a day like this but it couldn't compare to the feeling inside him right then. "Sweet dreams," he said.

The End.


End file.
